Hollandse Kust (noord) is a designated offshore Wind Farm Zone of about 700MW. The Wind Farm Zone lies 18 kilometres off the Dutch west coast and will provide enough electricity for over 1 million Dutch households. The Wind Farm Zone is one of six offshore areas currently being developed in the Netherlands.

The Commission for environmental assessment has issued a positive advice for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for Windplan Groen. The Commission has judged the EIA to include all the essential information for it to support the decision making process on the National integration plan and permits for the wind farm. Pondera Consult has drafted the EIA, the required permits and conducted all the necessary studies.

“The EIA is quite extensive, clear and contains a lot of maps, tables and visualizations. Each alternative had its assessment criteria described clearly and was subsequently clearly assessed, using clear illustrations. All effects, including the effects on ecology, landscape and the environment (acoustics, shadow flicker and lights) were extensively researched for each alternative.

The association ‘Windkoepel Green’, the involved municipalities Dronten and Lelystad, the province of Flevoland and the ministries of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy and Interior and Kingdom Relations are all involved in the wind farm, which will add to the renewable energy production in the Netherlands. The wind farm of over 90 wind turbines has a total capacity of approximately 400 megawatts.

Part of Windplan Groen is the replacement of old turbines by new, more powerful ones so that fewer turbines are needed. The draft permit applications and draft integration plans, which include the EIA on which they are based, are open for public consultation from April 26th to June 6th 2019.

The Wind Resource Aassessment for Hollandse Kust (noord) is now publicly available for all interested parties. The study aims to reduce the uncertainties for a project. This might lead to lower project costs, as well.

Hollandse Kust (Noord) is an offshore wind energy area that will contain over 700 MW of wind energy power. The area lies over 18 kilometres off the coast of Petten, and will provide enough power for over 1 million Dutch households. Hollandse Kust (Noord) is one of six offshore wind energy areas that is being developed in the Dutch part of the North Sea.

The WRA was done using the latest modern measuring techniques to provide the most accurate results possible. The wind climate for the area was determined and verified by using data from met masts and floating buoys with measuring instruments on them. This data was combined with the already existing data from the KNMI.

The WRA for Hollandse Kust (noord) was done by a consortium consisting of Oldbaum Services, Pondera Consult, Whiffle and Deltares. The report was commissioned by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (Dutch: RVO.nl). The report was certified by DNV GL. A webinar by RVO.nl, discussing the key results from the study, will be held on May 16, 2019.

About the consortium

The consortium, consisting of Oldbaum Services, Pondera Consult, Whiffle and Deltares, has done calculations on the wind climate of Hollandse Kust (noord) Wind Farm Zone, contracted by RVO.nl. The quartet got the assignment thanks to the earlier experiences with the Dutch and European offshore wind projects.

About Hollandse Kust (noord)

Hollandse Kust (noord) is a designated offshore Wind Farm Zone of about 700MW. The Wind Farm Zone lies 18 kilometres off the Dutch west coast and will provide enough electricity for over 1 million Dutch households. The Wind Farm Zone is one of six offshore areas currently being developed in the Netherlands.

The Dutch government wants 14% of the Dutch energy consumption to come from renewable sources in 2020. In 2023, this is to increase to 16%. Wind energy is an important source of renewable energy that can contribute to these goals. In 2018, 7.3% of the energy consumption in the Netherlands came from renewable sources.

On Wednesday 17 April the key actors of the Rotterdam area revalued their ambition to lead the Rotterdam port area towards a globally dominating role in the offshore wind sector in the field of construction, O&M and supply chain services.

During a CEO dinner in the boardroom of the famous football club Feyenoord, hosted by the CEO of the port of Rotterdam Allard Castelein and the vice mayor of Rotterdam Arno Bonte, a selective group of high ranked officials from Van Oord, Sif, Boskalis, Eneco, Mammoet, Seaway Heavy Lift, TenneT, GE, Ampelmann and others discussed the major challenges of the energy transition and the combined steps to take in order to achieve the ambition. Director General Energy of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Change Sandor Gaastra reflected on the position of the Rotterdam Harbour. To date Rotterdam plays a dominant role in the offshore wind market already with globally recognised market players as Van Oord, Boskalis and Sif. At this moment the first prototype of world’s strongest offshore wind turbine – GE’s Haliade X 12 MW – is being installed in the Rotterdam Port. The evening was chaired by Pondera’s Director Hans Rijntalder and was concluded by signing the Rotterdam offshore wind coalition agreement